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Flourless Chocolatey Black Bean Brownies

As I’ve stated many times in the past, I don’t bake much. I’m not a very patient person by nature. I would like to be. But for now, I’m not. Precisely measuring all the ingredients, beating egg whites until they peak, mixing the batter just right, waiting for it to bake, then waiting again for it to cool; it’s just too much for my teeny tiny shallow pool of patience. It’s compounded by the fact that I have a type-A, totally obsessive personality. So it takes twice as long as it normally would. It just makes for an untenable situation.

But as a person with lactose intolerance and gluten sensitivity, I just don’t have a lot of choices at the local bakeries. And it gets very difficult when my monthly chocolate cravings hit. It’s usually the kind of craving where I want to swim in a vat of chocolate with an IV of chocolate stuck to me. So when a craving hits, I must bake…

When I do bake on those rare occasions, I try to make it as simple as possible – even if that means I’m doing things that go against all things right in baking. With these brownies, I did everything in one bowl. Well, more accurately, one blender/large food processor. The preparation took minutes. Really, minutes. It was ridiculously simple. I didn’t use flour, so I didn’t have to be too careful about measuring out the dry ingredients or over-mixing. And because I didn’t use flour, I had a little more leeway in getting the type of texture I wanted even if my measurements were to be a little off.

So master bakers out there, please don’t tell me I’m doing this all wrong (especially since it worked out perfectly!). Besides, as long as it satisfies my cravings, I’m good. And these brownies? They more than satisfied my cravings. They tasted soooooooo good and SOOOOOOOOO chocolatey. They were just the right amount of sweet, right amount of chocolatey, and the right amount of richness. And the black beans, might you ask? Couldn’t even tell they were there.

These brownies taste so rich. And they are perfectly dense, thanks to the puréed black beans. You would never know these are so much healthier than your regular brownies.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9″ x 9″ (8″ x 8″ works too) baking pan by lining it with parchment paper. Leave enough parchment paper on the sides to create a sling. This will make it easier when you lift out the end product.

Add all of the wet ingredients – beans, oil, eggs, and vanilla – together in a blender. Pulse a few times to get the ingredients to come together. Then blend until the mixture is smooth. Add the dry ingredients – cocoa, sugar, coffee, and baking powder to the blender. Pulse a few times again and blend until the mixture is smooth. Add half of the chocolate chips. Pulse a few times again and blend until the mixture is smooth. The chocolate chips do not have to completely disintegrate.

Add the other half of the chocolate chips to the mixture. Mix, NOT blend. You want these to be whole. Alternatively, reserve the chips to sprinkle on top before baking. Pour the batter to a prepared pan. If you chose to reserved the chips, sprinkle them on now. Bake for about 20-23 minutes, until the center is set. Don’t overbake.

Allow the brownie to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Cool completely on a cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Cut them into squares and enjoy them with a glass of milk or a scoop of your favorite ice cream.

Cook’s Note: It’s important that you don’t over-bake these brownies. Due to the nature of the ingredients, the brownies will become powdery or cakey if you over-bake them. Just bake until the center sets.

Sucanat is a type of sugar that has been minimally processed; thus, the vitamins, minerals, and molasses are intact. If you can’t find it, it is perfectly acceptable to use light brown sugar. And dairy-free chocolate chips were used for this recipe.*

It doesn’t matter as long as the end result is great right? I think I’m going to be the blender girl from now on when it comes to baking. I think I just need to be careful when I use flour. So easy. No need to get your hands dirty. Much easier to clean than a kitchenaid stand mixer. And it was so good. We ate a little more than a couple of pieces in one sitting.

I cant bake that good except the bread..my cakes end up looking mostly like a bread no matter how careful I am to follow each step of the recipe. Your brownies look fantastic…love the beans addition and they are flourless…less guilt eating them:)

Hi Jael ~ Cooking soaked dried beans is always better, but I use the canned stuff when I don’t have the time (which is often ). If you do use canned, try to get Eden black beans. They don’t have the BPA lining like other brands. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much Christine! I’m so happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the brownies. It’s a nice way to get in some extra fiber and nutrients while satisfying the sweet tooth. I really appreciate the feedback!

We recently found out that my husband is gluten sensitive, so I’ve been experimenting with different flour-free recipes. I started making another recipe with black beans, then got halfway through and realized that it actually had flour in it. Serves me right for not looking, but I was able to salvage the batch very well with your recipe. I added another egg and a little more coca powder and sugar to compensate for the extra oil that the other recipe called for and they held together just fine. This is the third gluten-free brownie recipe I’ve tried and they turned out so much better than the others. Thank you!

I am the same way Caroline! I don’t have the patience to read through the entire recipe before starting a “project.” So I totally understand. But I’m glad this recipe was helpful in salvaging your ingredients. And I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

I have been searching for a good black bean brownie recipe because I am a sucker for anything sugar-free, flour-free, and super chocolaty! These look absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to try them :] My one question–my boyfriend is a sweets guru/connoisseur/expert/addict…and I have to be sure that the black beans are completely undetectable–is the flavor really that completely masked by the chocolate?? :] Thank you!!!!

Hi Devon! My husband is a sugar addict also. He couldn’t taste the beans at all. Others were pretty surprised as well. Just make sure that the wet ingredients (beans) are very smooth. You don’t want any lumpiness from the beans or the skin of the beans. Hope you enjoy the brownies!

I was looking for a gluten-free brownie recipe that was super easy (and one that had the only ingredients I had in my pantry!). This one was perfect! Two of us ate half the pan in ten minutes. They were light like a cake, rich and chocolaty like a brownie, and NOTHING like black beans! ha!

This recipe is a keeper, to be sure. The only changes I made were to use warm (not hot!) melted coconut oil and rum in place of vanilla (since I was out of vanilla) and I omitted the choc chips and instant coffee because, yeah, I’m in desperate need of a trip to the gf store!

I think that the omission of chocolate chips is what made mine light like a cake rather than fudgey like your photo. I could easily have made this twice, frosted it with a cream cheese frosting (or any frosting) and served it like a cake without it being too rich.

Thank you so much Angela! I’m so glad you liked it. You are so sweet It is so easy to make; that’s one of the reasons I love this recipe. And you can sneak in some fiber and nutrients while getting your chocolate fix!

I’m sure the coconut oil gave it a nice flavor; and I love rum in my desserts, yum! I hope you are having a great new year Angela!

Hi Sihan! I think one of the previous commenters left out the chocolate chips; she said the taste was great, and the texture was more like a cake than a dense brownie. I make this to satisfy my enormous chocolate craving, so the extra chocolate is a must for me. You can even put in chopped or shaved dark chocolate, if you’d prefer. But if you would just prefer to leave it out, give it a try. Just remember that the texture will be lighter.

Oh wow… I’m back not even a week later looking for your recipe again. ha!! Yes, without the chocolate chips it is more like cake, that’s for sure. We still love it, though! (Enough to make it once a week?!)

May I reblog your recipe and link back? This recipe is just beyond awesome.

Hi Angela! I’m so glad you like the recipe. And I’m grateful that people are trying out my recipes. But I would prefer that people link back to my blog rather than post the actual recipe on their site (unless the recipe has been significantly changed, than an “adapted from” link would be appropriate). I would be happy to provide an image/photo for you to link back. Thank you for the positive review. I really do appreciate it.

Awesome – thank you! Actually, since mine are so “cake” like, I think I’m going to take my own photos and even make cupcakes out of them. Def will do the adapted from link back and come back and let you know.

I was quite skeptical when I read this recipe, but very intrigued, so I had to give it a try. The brownies are nothing short of a miracle! I am convinced that a blind taste test between them and a “normal” brownie would leave the tester very confused as to which one was made with flour. I do have to say, though, that the bean odor emanating from the oven while baking had me quite worried that I had just ruined a perfectly good pan of chocolate! The baking process seems to remove any residual hint of a bean, however. I’m just … astounded! Thanks for posting the magical recipe and drool-inducing pictures!

Thanks so much for your feedback! It means a lot to me to hear that you enjoyed the brownies. When I first baked these I didn’t tell my family about the beans until after they finished the bath. They were shocked to find that the beans were the base of the brownies! Your kind words really provide me with a great deal of encouragement. Thanks again!!